Card storage and portable backup (1 Viewer)

Confused as to best workflow.
Having bought the 7DMkii with CF and SD cards I am looking for advice as to the best workflow and economical backup facility for birding trip to Costa Rica.
I normally take raw images and want to return with raw images to process on my return. I am thinking of using the CF cards for this but should I copy the raw image to the SD (as backup) or copy as a JPEG to the SD ?
I am also taking an Android tablet which will view both raw and jpeg images but when it comes to saving these it converts the raw CR2 file to a TIFF file, so should I just use the SD card as backup of the CR2 file and copy again via the tablet on to a USB stick as TIFF files ?
I originally thought to get a portable storage unit but these need a PC to copy from which I'm not taking.
I'm trying to keep gadgets and weight to a minimum so any advice would be appreciated.
John

Always a dilemma as to how much storage you need on a trip ! When weight is an issue you can't alway take everything you might want to either so a notebook and external hard drive if you have one might not be viable either.
Personally I just use memory cards and I don't make back up copies either. I stick to RAW's and that's it.No jpegs until I process them at home.
My situation is complicated still further in as much as my main body doesn't use an SD card but that's what I have most storage available in. Consequently I use my back up camera, a 5D3 to transfer files from Compact Flash to SD so I can clear the CF card and re-use it in my 1DX2. To complicate matters further, the 1DX2 has a CFast card slot so if I want to reuse that I have to transfer it to a CF card and then to a SD card. Ridiculous really but at £199 for a 64gb CFast card I'm not in a hurry to buy an extra one at the moment.
The benefit of SD cards is they are cheap and take neither weight or room. You could just buy more for your trip. Alternatively, a friend has recently acquired an external storage device that has an SD slot built in. Apparently you just stick the card in and it flashes to tell you when the transfer is complete but you can't actually see the pictures.Putting faith in that is something not everyone would want to do but I suppose if you used it purely as a back up and didn't delete the images on the card it might suit.

Hi Dave,
Thanks for your reply and I like the simplicity of your storage workflow and beginning to think along the same lines although the recommended CF and SD cards for the 7D combo are a bit pricey.
Having looked at your links I must also compliment you on your photos, especially those in Gambia (a great place ).
John

Thanks for the compliment John, appreciated.
As for storage cards, you can buy cheaply here
https://www.7dayshop.com/products/l...300x-speed-platinum-ii-u1-128gb-lsd128bbeu300
128GB for £35
It might not be a recommended card for the 7D2 because the write speed can't keep up with the high frame rate the camera manages but as a storage device it is more than adequate. When I feel the need to clear some space on my faster cards I leave the camera transferring during the evening whilst I'm out or even overnight.
In actual fact the card is fast enough for most picture taking situations too providing you are not rattling off burst after burst which isn't necessary in most situations anyway.
cheers Dave

Dave Williams said:

Alternatively, a friend has recently acquired an external storage device that has an SD slot built in. Apparently you just stick the card in and it flashes to tell you when the transfer is complete but you can't actually see the pictures.Putting faith in that is something not everyone would want to do but I suppose if you used it purely as a back up and didn't delete the images on the card it might suit.

Click to expand...

I have a couple of devices somewhere that I used to back up CF cards (although it can take SD as well) before I moved to a Microsoft Pro tablet and plug in external 1 TB drive. One was an Epson P6000 that had an inbuilt 80gb micro-hard drive, a 4" monitor screen and CF/SD card slots. looks like a big gameboy. ot sure whether they are still made? Might dig them out and upgrade the microdrive for my 5DSR 50mB files!!

Michael.

Hi Dave,
I'm not expecting to use the burst facility to its max so looking for the most economical card(s) to enable normal image taking with the occasional burst (ie. option to wait for the buffer to catch up).
I am assuming that I could take RAW images on both cards, using the SD as backup but would the write speeds need to be the same ? ie. to use 2 x 32GB CF cards (medium-high speed) and 1 x 64GB SD card (medium speed).
John

If you are just using the SD to copy the images from the CF card at a later time( as I do) it doesn't make a jot of difference other than the receiving card might take longer to download if it's a slower write speed.
However, if you are trying to record duplicate RAW's on both cards whilst shooting then the speed and buffer will be dictated by the slowest card.Personally I wouldn't do that because some of what you shoot you will want to delete straightway I would imagine, I certainly do. It would be tiresome and complicated trying to manage both cards in such a fashion. Better to use just the fastest whilst you are taking the shots and then, after deciding which you want to keep, transferring to a cheaper but slower card them later.
The decision to make back ups is a personal one, I don't but many do.I might get caught out one day!
I think I'm at greater risk though as I don't have a back up hard drive either, considering the investment made in gathering my shots, it's stupid risking them all for the price of an external hard drive.
I'll put it on my must do list immediately!

Dave Williams said:

If you are just using the SD to copy the images from the CF card at a later time( as I do) it doesn't make a jot of difference other than the receiving card might take longer to download if it's a slower write speed.
However, if you are trying to record duplicate RAW's on both cards whilst shooting then the speed and buffer will be dictated by the slowest card.Personally I wouldn't do that because some of what you shoot you will want to delete straightway I would imagine, I certainly do. It would be tiresome and complicated trying to manage both cards in such a fashion. Better to use just the fastest whilst you are taking the shots and then, after deciding which you want to keep, transferring to a cheaper but slower card them later.
The decision to make back ups is a personal one, I don't but many do.I might get caught out one day!
I think I'm at greater risk though as I don't have a back up hard drive either, considering the investment made in gathering my shots, it's stupid risking them all for the price of an external hard drive.
I'll put it on my must do list immediately!

Click to expand...

Please do, Dave, I lost thousands of shots when my external drive crashed. A bigger back-up drive was on my to-do list but I'd waited a little too long. I am now backing up all my drives online in an automated process.
On my travels I take a so-called i-usb port, a portable harddrive with a card slot. Not a cheap solution, but I can also manage the content with my ipad and I can even watch some movies I put on the drive, as it creates its on wifi network.

I agree that backups are essential hence my thinking that I could do it simultaneously on to the SD card but I do accept that to edit both CF and SD cards would be pointless.
So is it possible to copy from CF to SD using the camera body ie. after editing ?
I am not planning to take a PC with me so copying via the Android tablet as Tiff files might be the only option.

I leave all the editing until I get home, something to do on a cold wet day so I can't answer those questions.
When on a trip I want to maximise my time taking photos and if wife Claire is with me, the after sunset hours are exclusively hers.... otherwise there would be understandable trouble coming my way!
I just store the RAW files on camera cards then transfer them to an external hard drive at home, sort and rename them using Aperture then edit them in Lightroom and sometimes Photoshop.

If you already have an android tablet then buy a USB OTG lead. If you connect a card reader and the external hard drive to a powered USB hub then you can transfer the raw files with file manager to the hard drive without them residing on the android device. I use this to do my backups when I travel without the laptop. Works great.
Hope this helps.

Hi Steve, thanks for your tip which is of interest. I do have an USB OTG lead and card reader but I would have to buy a powered USB hub and portable external hard drive.
I have managed to upload RAW files to the android but unable to figure out how to save to micro SD or an USB via the OTG cable even as a TIFF file so your suggestion may be the solution. I admit I am having trouble understanding the android workflow.
Thanks
John

Hi John
The secret is not to upload the files to the tablet. You just mount the external devices and use file manager to copy from one to the other. It's the same work flow as if you were moving files on the computer.
Steve